Towel package



June 12, 1928. 1,673,763

F. FLATHER TOWEL PACKAGE Filed Nov. 10, 1925 3 Sheets-$heet l IN VEN TOR.

A TTORNEY.

June 12, 1928. 7 1,673,763

F. FLATHER TOWEL PACKAGE Filed Nov. 10, 1925 s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

A TTORNE-Y.

June 12, 1928,

Filed Nov. 10, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR Patented June 12, 1928.

FREDERICK FLATHER, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

TOWEL PACKAGE.

Application filed November This invention relates to packages of towels and other similar goods, which it desired to display for sale in stores in a compact, convenient and sanitary form.

It is particularly useful for such articles as towels which have selvage edges along the sides, and of which the ends are doubled over and stitched to form hems. These hems at each end are at least double the thickness of the rest of the material. \Vhen a towel is folded, the hems form a thick spot, and if folded together form a bunch.

The purpose of this particular package is to so fold such a towel or other article, that it can be inserted into a case or carton of thin pasteboard or cardboard of parallelopiped form, preferably from one end so that it will substantially fill the container without causing it to bulge or to have uneven soft spots. This will permit a number of such containers to rest smoothly one on top of the other, as on the shelf of a store, and to be packed in a container of box-like shape, or parallelopiped form, such container being made of cardboard, pasteboard, corrugated paper or other relatively light material.

By folding the article, it can be placed in a flat carton, and a dozen more or less of such cartons can be snugly packed in a container so that there is substantially no room wasted.

A single carton or a dozen in a container can readily and cheaply be shipped by parcel post.

By my method of folding, it is possible to use a semi-rigid carton such as one made of cardboard or thin pasteboard, and of slablike or parallelepiped form, which is wider than its thickness, and longer than its width, but which when filled with the folded towel to form a package will not bulge. \Vith such semi-rigid cartons, such bulging should be avoided so that they will stack compactly 011 a shelf in a shop, and will not tip over as will happen if the top or bottom faces are forced out of parallel planes by the material inside.

The use of a thin cardboard carton is highly desirable provided none of the sides bulge or yield unevenly under pressure.

In my package.'the cloth is so folded that the two largest faces of the carton lie fiat and parallel at their parts which will rest on a shelf or against another carton with no 10, 1925. Serial No. 68,117.

bulge nor depression and all the other faces remain flat, neither concave nor convex.

They can therefore be closely packed in a container. They can be fitted into any slzed space on a shelf or in a show case in a store as they can be stood on any one of their six faces. They will not slip out of place nor tip on account of vibration nor when being dusted.

Advertising matter on any one of their SIX faces can therefore be exhibited to great advantage. 1

My package is preferably of a convenient size to lit in a mans coat pocket.

I prefer to first fold the towel in three longitudinal folds as that is the most convenient form to hang on a rack.

I prefer to make my folds such that the towel. will easily slip in the end of the carton and I prefer to use a carton with open ends closed by flaps as in such a carton the cardboard has less tendency to curl than if the top is open with a large flap.

I thereby form a shipping package which is very light and compact, and inexpensive to transport, but which is so compactly packed that it will stand rough handling such as it might receive in the mails.

In the drawings, Fig. l is a perspective showing a towel hemmed at each end and folded lengthwise in three folds.

Fig. 2 is a perspective showing the same towel after it is given the first lateral fold.

Fig. 3 is a perspective showing the same towel after it has been given the second lateral fold.

Fig. l is a perspective showing the same towel after it has been given the third lateral fold.

Fig. 5 is a perspective showing the same towel after it has been given the final fold.

Fig. 6 is a perspective of an empty :arton such as Iprcfer to use to enclose my folded towel.

Fig. 7 is anend elevation of the carton with a towel inside, the flaps being turned back to expose the inside. I

Fig. 8 is a perspective showing a container for 12 cartons, with 6 cartons in place.

Fig. 9 is a plan view showing another method of folding a towel into the three final folds 80, 81 and 82. The fold'S'l is at the bottom while the fold is shown as standing almost perpendicular but leaning a trifle to the left while the fold 82 lies flat on 81.

Fig. 10 is a plan view showing the towel folded in another way' in three lateral folds.

Fig. 11 is a plan view showing the'final folding of the towel shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 12 is an end View showing the final folding of the towel shown in Fig. 10.

Fig. 13 is a plan view of a towel folded first in two longitudinal folds, and then in one lateral fold. a

Fig. 14: is a plan view of the towel shown in Fig. 13, folded again laterally in three folds.

Fig. 15 shows the same towel of Figs. 13 and 1 1, finally folded three times.

A represents a piece of cloth which as shown, is a towel of rectangular shape, having the long sides 10' and 11 where the selvage' runs, and the short sides or ends doubled over to form hems 12 and 16. As shown, these hems are redoubled at the points 13 and 18, and are sewed through and through at 14 and 17. At 15 it is heinstitched.

The article is then folded in three longitudinal folds, 20, 21, 22, of substantially equal width at the creases 23 and 24;

It is then given a first lateral fold 30, being thereby given a first lateral crease 81. This crease is so positioned that the hem 12 extends entirely'beyond the hem 16 so that instead of piling up 12 thicknesses of cloth by bringing the ends together, there are only 6, except at 16. l

The material is then given a second lateral fold 10, forming the second lateral crease 41, in such a manner that the first lateral crease 31 does not reach as far as hem 16. It will be observed that at this point -10, there are just 12 thicknesses of cloth.

I again form a third lateral fold 50, making a crease at 51, in such a manner as to bring the second lateral crease 41 near to but not quite up to crease 31.

I again form a lateral fold 51 making a final crease 55. In' this way the parts are so positioned that the first lateral crease 31 is bent up at the end of second lateral crease 11 while the hem 12 extends beyond hem 16 nearly to the other side of the material.

The result of this package is that the top and bottom faces are almost parallel, and the tendency to bunch is avoided.

F represents a semi-rigid carton of parallelepiped form having the top and bottom surfaces (30 and 61, sides 62 and 63, and ends 64 and 65.

One or both of these ends such as 65, may be provided with suitable-flaps 66, G7, 68, whereby the end can be closed. This carton is wider than its thickness." 2

H represents a container which I prefer to make of semi-rigid material such as corrugated paper or pastcboard. 'As shown, it

is made so as to receive side by side two cartons such as F, six deep or twelve altogether.

As shown, it has a front 70, back 71, sides 72, 73, bottom 74, and open top 75. This open top is provided with flaps 76, 77 78 and 7 9, by which it may be closed.

\Vhile I prefer the folding described in Figs. 1 to 5, I may use other folds, the purpose in every case being to prevent any uneven bulging of the carton, and to make a substantial part of each of the two largest faces flat and parallel.

In Figs. 9 and 11, I show a towel first folded across or laterally in the crease 83, in such a way that the hemmed ends 12 and 10 considerably overlap and so that they will eventually assume the position indicated, one beyond the other.

The second fold 84 is made by the crease 85, and the third fold 8G by the crease 87,

while the next fold 88 is made by the crease 89.

Part of the next fold is made at 180 terminating in hem 16, and the next at 181 while the last end is 182 terminating in hem 12.

The towel is then folded in three at the creases 33 and 341. which make thefolds S0, 81, 82, of which 81 will be at the bottom, 82 in the middle and 80 at the top. This folding if made accurately, works very well but is more difficult to manipulate than the first one described;

In Figs. 10 and 12, I show a towel which is folded on the lateral crease 90 in' such a way that the hems 16 and 12 extend onebcyond the other.

The next fold. 91 is made along the crease 92 and the next fold 93 is made along the crease 9 1. The hemmed ends 16 and 12 with the rest of the material, form the last lateral crease.

This is again folded in five folds, 99, 98, 97, 90, 95, of which 99 is inside and the one showing the ends, that is, is on the outside.

As shown in Figs. 13, 1 1 and 15, I may fold the towel along longitudinal crease 100 then along the lateral crease 101, the former bringing the edges together and the latter making 12 extcnd' well beyond 16.

Then along the creases and 106,1 make folds 107, 108, 109, 107 being on the outside and 109 on the inside. i

This is again folded in the other direction along the creases 110 and 111 in the folds 112, 113 and 114 shown in Figs. 14 and 15.

My invention is applicable particularly to mercln'lmlisin'g packages for relatively heavy towels each of which has a hem at each end where the cloth is doubled over, such packages to be of such form that they will keep the shape of a parallelepiped of comparatively small size, and in which opposite sides will remain parallel during shipment and sale. To insure this parallelism the towel must be so folded as to avoid any tendency to slump and bulge. On account of the size of the towel and the fact that each hemmed end must be folded on its self, the usual folding is not satisfactory.

I claim:

1. The combination with a semi-rigid container of parallelepiped form; of a plurality of semi-rigid cloth packages each of parallelopipod form and each of which is wider than its thickness closely packed in said containers and each of which is formed of a strip of cloth having parallel selvagc edges and shorter ends each of which is doubled over to form a hem, the strip being then folded in three longitudinal folds of substantially equal width and while so folded, being given a first lateral fold at a first lateral crease so that the bottom hem extends beyond the top hem, then given a second lateral fold at a second lateral crease so that the top hem extends beyond the first lateral crease, then given a third lateral fold forming a third lateral crease so that the first lateral, crease extends beyond the second lateral crease, and then given a final lateral fold forming a final lateral crease so that the first and second lateral creases adjoin and the bottom hem under-laps the top hem, and the third lateral fold rests on them, said folded cloth being positioned within a semi-rigid carton so that the top and bottom surfaces of the carton remain parallel.

2. A cloth package formed of a strip of cloth having parallel selvage edges and shorter ends each of which is doubled over to form a hem, the strip being then folded in three longitudinal folds of substantially equal width and while so folded, being given a first lateral fold at a first lateral crease so that the bottom hem extends beyond the top hem, then given a second lateral fold at a second lateral crease so that the top hem extends beyond the first lateral crease, then given a third lateral fold forming a third lateral crease so that the first lateral crease extends beyond the second lateral crease, and then given a final lateral fold forming a final lateral crease so that the first and second lateral creases adjoin and the bottom hem underlaps the top hem, and the third lateral fold rests on them, positioned within a semi-rigid carton of parallelopiped form which is wider than its thickness so that its top and bottom surfaces remain parallel.

3. A towel having parallel selvage edges and shorter ends each of which is doubled over to form a hem, the strip being then folded in three longitudinal folds of substantially equal width and while so folded, being given a first lateral fold at a first lateral crease so that the bottom hem extends beyond the top hem, then given a second lateral fold at a second lateral crease so that the top hem extends beyond the first lateral crease, then given a third lateral fold forming a third lateral crease so that the first lateral crease extends beyond the second lateral crease, and then given a final lateral fold forming a final lateral crease so that the first and second lateral creases adjoin and the bottom hem underlaps the top hem, and the third lateral fold rests on them.

4:. A towel having parallel selvage edges and shorter ends, each, of which is doubled over to form a hem, the towel being then folded longitudinally and then being folded laterally in such manner that the opposite hemmed edges are staggered, and folded thereafter in such manner that the two largest surfaces will have their thickest portions along two parallel lines and such portions will be of substantially equal thickness.

5. An article of merchandise consisting of a towel having parallel selvage edges and shorter ends, each of which is doubled over to form a hem, the towel being then folded longitudinally and then being folded laterally in such manner that the opposite hemmed edges are staggered, and folded thereafter in such manner that the two largest surfaces will have their thickest portions along two parallel lines and suchportions will be of substantially equal thickness positioned within a semi-rigid carton of parallelopiped form.

FREDERICK FLATHER. 

